Preview: City vs Newcastle

Fresh from a gruelling pre-season camp in Townsville, Melbourne City FC will travel to Ballarat for a friendly match against Newcastle Jets at Morshead Park on Sunday.

City concluded its tour in North Queensland last Sunday, with John van’t Schip’s side ramping up preparations for the upcoming A-League season with a week of high intensity training and two testing friendly matches.

Socceroos striker Tim Cahill took only 15 minutes to net on his first City start in the final tour match against Wellington Phoenix, but many will point to the heavy training load imposed on the players as a mitigating factor during the Club’s 4-1 defeat to its Round 1 A-League opponents.

With Wednesday’s FFA Cup Quarter Final against Western Sydney firmly in mind, van’t Schip is expected to field a youthful squad to face a Newcastle outfit brimming with confidence after an impressive pre-season campaign.

A comfortable 4-0 win over Northern NSW NPL side Edgeworth Eagles served as the perfect tonic to a week overshadowed by off-field drama, with the Jets maintaining the momentum achieved from a clean sweep of results during their pre-season tour of China.

Forwards Morten Nordstrand and Andrew Hoole have been central to the Jets attacking form and will provide a stern test for a City defence likely to consist of Dean Bouzanis, Ruon Tongyik and Bradley Clarke.

The clash also pits together two of the competitions emerging stars, with talented City youngster Daniel Arzani and Jets midfielder Devante Clut set to provide the creative spark for their respective sides.

Sunday’s clash at Morshead Park will kick off at 3:00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online here.